The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has disclosed that as at Friday 8th July 2022, it had processed 433 requests for Certified True Copies, CTCs, of 1,662,776 pages of documents.
The commission said its staff have been working hard, even on weekends, to meet the deluge of requests received, adding that many of the documents already processed are awaiting collection by even applicants who have been complaining of delay in issuance of the CTCs.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a statement on Saturday, said “Section 29 (4) of the Electoral Act provides that any person may apply to the Commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit, and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue such person with a certified copy of document within 14 days.”
Okoye added that “Persons applying for CTC of documents should endeavour to act timely and within the ambit of the law.”
On allegations involving party primaries in some parts of the country, he said such allegations were intended to impugn the integrity of the commission.
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to speculations circulating online on the outcome of some of the recent primaries conducted by political parties and related issues. In particular, allegations intended to impugn the integrity of the Commission have been made in respect of the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial Districts.
“To set the record straight, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandates the Commission to monitor the organisation and operation of political parties, including their finances, conventions, congresses and party primaries.
“In line with its constitutional and legal obligations, the Commission deployed monitors to the various constituencies and received reports of such exercise. In relation to the primaries for the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial Districts, the Commission stands by the monitoring reports received from our State offices.
“For this reason, the Commission did not publish the personal particulars of any candidate for the two constituencies at variance with the State reports. Right now, the Commission is funtus officio in the two cases,” he said.
Okoye noted that “aggrieved parties are at liberty to approach the Federal High Court and seek redress as provided in section 285 of the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and sections 29(5) and 84(14) of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
He added that the commission will continue to uphold the integrity of the electoral process, including the deepening of the deployment of technology to enhance the credibility of elections.